Spenser is back, with a bang. Actually multiple bangs. He is hired to squire around a mother at her daughter's wedding. Then the 'gray man' reappears in the Spenser saga. Then all hell breaks loose. There are bodies on the floor; the bride is abducted and no one really understands why. The mother has a set of suspicious ex-husbands along with a case of very warm undergarments. She is basically a rich lech with a growing tendency to leave dead bodies in her wake. Spenser must make sense of all of this, avoid being killed by the gray man, and still find time to eat pasta bolognese with Susan and drink Krug champagne with Hawk.

Readers of my reviews know that one of the metrics I use in judging a Spenser novel is the proportion of Hawk-time vs. the proportion of Susan-time, my decided preference being for the former rather than the latter. Here they appear in more or less equal proportions but Susan is more tolerable than usual, probably because the actual violence with which she and Spenser are presented keeps the cutesy talk to a minimum. Hawk, as always, never overstays his welcome. The dialogue between and among the three is consistently strong and the action quotient is far higher than in the average Spenser novel. This book starts with a sequence of superb action scenes and the plot is tighter than most. There is a bona fide 'mystery' and it is solved plausibly and satisfactorily. There are also some moral dilemmas that prompt interesting results and interesting dialogue. The book is less talky than some Spensers but the dialogue is welcome because it is executed so skillfully. There are also appearances by Tony Marcus, Quirk, Healy and other members of the Spenser ensemble, including Pearl.

Highly recommended.

RBP's new Spenser book was absolutely wonderful. You can read the other reviews for a more detailed review of the story line. What I liked about the book was the little changes in story structure.
The story starts off with, for a Spenser novel, a sureal amount of action. Then things go along in RBP's usual, yet oddly comfortable, style of sparce prose. The dialog with other characters was fresh, and for once, I didn't want to shoot Susan.
With about ten pages to go, I knew we wern't going to get a big finish with alot of action. Yet I read the last two chapters over twice, enjoying the slightly suprising ending. Without alot of action, RBP threw some curve balls to make me smile at the end of another Spenser book, and more sad it was over.

This is the best Spenser that I read so far. Spenser is hired by his client under very vague circumstances. Then all heck breaks loose. First with the arrival of the Gray Man. People are killed and the bride is taken. Spenser vows to get to the bottom even though the Gray Man warns him off the case. There's a lot of suspense and surprises you will love it.

When the leaves start to change color and the mornings are crisp and cool, you know it's time for the eagerly awaited - new Spenser novel by Robert B. Parker. For the last few years, the Spenser novels have gotten shifted from March to October, which has been great. The books are meant to be read on an evening when it's too dark or too cold or too wet to go outside. With the rapid pacing, blistering dialogue, and casual, linear storytelling, a Spenser book almost reads itself.

In ROUGH WEATHER, fans are treated to a few new things in the long-running series. As typical, Spenser gets hired in the first chapter, but this time his client is Heidi Bradshaw, a professional gold digger that's left a trail of broken and financial bereft husbands in her wake. Instead of wanting Spenser to find someone or protect her from someone, she just wants him to join her at her daughter's wedding. The request, as Spenser notes, is curious.

After a brief conversation with Susan, Spenser's significant other, Spenser agrees that the job is incredibly fishy, and it's that mystery that pulls Spenser to Tashtego Island. That question also yanks the reader along suitably as well. I know. I kept flipping pages myself.

Things take a decided turn for the worse when Spenser bumps into his chief rival at the wedding. Rugar, the Gray Man, has crossed paths with Spenser twice before. The first time, the Gray Man almost killed the tough private eye. The second time their conflict was sidelined for a larger threat. However, Spenser readily admits that the Gray Man - stone-cold killer and ex-CIA hitman - is the most dangerous man he's ever encountered.

Things go wrong fast at the wedding. The Gray Man steals the bride away and kills several people while getting off the island. For a few chapters, we get to see Spenser in action as he frees himself and works to get Susan out of harm's way. I was glued to the pages during that brief encounter because we haven't gotten to see Spenser up against such desperate odds in a while. I really hoped the book would continue offering that level of action, especially with the Gray Man in the mix, but that ended too soon and moved into one of Spenser's normal investigations.

I read Parker's books as comfort food rather than for new experiences. After thirty years of reading his novels, I don't expect surprises from Parker, but I do expect the excellent pacing, dialogue, and bits of psychology, male-bonding, and action that he delivers without fail. ROUGH WEATHER has all that, but I had the final twist figured out long before I got there.

There are a lot of detractors of Susan Silverman out there, and I'll admit that I've been one of them. But in this book she really complements Spenser in a way that readers have seldom seen. Not only that but Hawk spends Thanksgiving with Spenser and Susan (and she even cooked!). That was something readers were told not to expect back in book six of the series: LOOKING FOR RACHEL WALLACE. It's a little scary seeing all of this togetherness, almost like Parker is preparing his characters for eventual retirement.

However, I was let down by the ending somewhat. I'd expected it to end like a house on fire since the Gray Man was involved in such an adversarial role. The ending still satisfied, but I'd just wanted more. I read the book from cover to cover because I just couldn't walk away from a favorite acquaintance telling another intriguing story. I think most of the fans will feel the same way.

Wealthy, almost famous for her marriages, Heidi Bradshaw hires Boston based private investigator Spenser to be her escort on her privately owned island, Tashtego. The occasion is her daughter Adelaide's wedding. Spenser gets the impression his client wants a bodyguard; he takes the job and brings his lover Susan Silverman with him. The bride and groom exchange vows only to have gunmen arrive led by Rugar the Gray Man; and they abduct Adelaide.

Spenser does not try to protect Heidi as his first concern is Susan's safety. The kidnappers and the bride reach a helicopter but not before Rugar kills the groom and the minister. Spenser is shocked as the scenario is not Rugar's precise efficient MO and no ransom note is sent. As the Boston sleuth begins closing in on the truth, Rugar sends assassins to kill him, but they fail. He vows to rescue Adelaide and learn why Rugar is behaving out of character.

ROUGH WEATHER is Robert B. Parker at his very best with a great suspenseful mystery enhanced by the hero's even greater love for Susan; her safety comes first before his client or himself. Susan accepts Spenser for who he is and tries not to change her beloved into a more "acceptable" boyfriend fitting in her circle. The story line is fast-paced from the moment the Gray Man arrives in a shockingly fumbled caper, but it is the dry witted Spenser who turns the tale into a thriller's thriller.

Harriet Klausner